No Excuses November

[TheRealAriel]

Hey friends- I’m doing a goal setting practice this November that I’m calling “No Excuses November.” I’ve defined some things for myself that I would be devoting time to if I was as committed to my own mental/physical/spiritual health as I should be. For the month of November I am going to try very hard to commit myself to achieving those things- both to make progress in my health journey and to see how I feel at the end of it.

very soon the time of resolutions will be upon us. I don’t know about y’all, but I’d love a win before then. If you also feel like this speaks to you and you could use the win- I wanted to make a space where we can share our goals/hacks we learn along the way/encourage one another through it all. We can all do it!!

My goals:
-drink at least 80 oz water a day
-eat vegan at least 5x a week
-spend at least 30 minutes a day in the word, praying or in quiet time
-exercise 5x a week
-sleep at least 7 hours a night

 

[mojoboy31]

I'm trying not to be complacent now that I've accomplished my three biggest career goals that I'd been working toward for the last six years, but in time, while I was focused and stressing about other things, and life continually made things more and more difficult, I realize I've let a lot of things slip, and I've fallen into some bad habits to try to cope with it.

Therefore:

My goals:

-In bed no later than 11:30 on worknights

-Get up within 20 minutes of alarm going off, this gonna be No-snooze November. I really want to get to work earlier now that I am no longer the full time closer

-Make my own or skip coffee at least 4x a week. No more buying sugar-filled lattes "to get me through the workday.", and if I do get a coffee, choose a healthier/less sugar one, like a nitro cold brew

-Pack my own lunch at least 4x a week. No more eating out every day

-drink lots of water, which I usually will do, but I also usually drink some kind of sugar-filled beverage also, so the goal is to cut out the sugar drinks and stick to water instead.

-walk a half hour a day 5x a week. I get two 15 minute breaks at work, which I used to use to walk and exercise, but since becoming manager and losing a person, I rarely take my fifteens anymore, and when I do, I rationalize with myself that I deserve to relax, and will sit in my office and stare at my phone, or just the wall even
But no more

-Cook dinner at least 4x nights a week/ get the ingredients and meal plan for 4x nights out of the week

-no second helpings for 5 nights a week

-exercise (besides the walking) at least 3x a week

-Bible/quiet time at least 20 minutes a day

 

[mojoboy31]

Day One Sit-rep: Made it out of bed in 18 minutes, two to spare! Already drank one sparkling water, and lookit! I even managed to bring my own coffee to work!

Day one is going well so far! In a few minutes, I'll take my fifteen, and see if I can find a healthy snack option I can do for lunch instead of spendy but wonderful Pad Thai or fast but very unhealthy Taco Bell. Unfortunately my Walmart is a "division 1 store", not a Super Center, which means no grocery, no produce. We only have a limited amount of "dry goods" and some prepackaged cold stuff, but mostly candy bars and snacks...
I might be able to find a yogurt or something to tide me over until dinner.

If you have any suggestions on cangood/dry goods/ chilled snacks, let me know.

 

[TheRealAriel]

Day one going well here too!! 24 oz of water left for today, eating dinner now- made a Korean bowl with kimchi, mushrooms, tofu, spinach and pickled radish and found some vegan dumplings to go with it.

Run was not fantastic today- I only ran the first 10 minutes then speed walked the other 20.. but slow workouts count too!

Love the mug, Mojo!!

 

[mojoboy31]

Day one going well here too!! 24 oz of water left for today, eating dinner now- made a Korean bowl with kimchi, mushrooms, tofu, spinach and pickled radish and found some vegan dumplings to go with it.
View attachment 322577
Run was not fantastic today- I only ran the first 10 minutes then speed walked the other 20.. but slow workouts count too!

Love the mug, Mojo!!

Nice nice!
That looks amazing!
Speedwalking is still good exercise.

Thanks, it's a really cool travel mug.

I might be able to find a yogurt or something to tide me over until dinner.

Let's go!

 

[mojoboy31]

First day is just about over, I managed to check-off everything from my list except exercise and Bible time. With the nephews here for a sleepover, exercise probably gonna have to wait until tomorrow (as if chasing them around isn't a full-blown cardio workout xD ), and Bible time when they're tucked in for the night and I'm alone in my room before bed. All in all, not too bad for a first day.

Honest thoughts so far: the 1g sugar yogurt didn't taste fantastic, but it wasn't full of sugar, so mission accomplished. It doesn't last long however, I started to feel very hungry as the day progressed. Hopefully tomorrow after my sis picks up my buds, I'll have time to do some grocery shopping and get some better options for lunches at work.
Had to remind myself to eat really slow and enjoy it, and I managed to stave off getting a second helping at dinner, which was air-fried chicken and instant pot Mac and cheese. Not the greatest, but my brother cooked, so I can't much complain.

I didn't really miss the coffee all that bad until a total Karen came in, being super irrational, and just do8ng anything they could to try and ruin my day. As soon as they left, I found myself reaching for my phone to open up Doordash to order some coffees, but I managed to shake it off.

Gonna be off the next three days. Gonna be interesting to see if I can keep it up while at home.

 

[TheRealAriel]

Day 2 was a success! Was feeling a little unmotivated in the morning, had a bad headache- but when I finally made myself ride the bike it made me feel better and gave me good momentum for the rest of the day. Been doing 2 Soylents a day, plus one big fun meal. Today was a delicious salad… yummmm.

 

[mojoboy31]

So today was weird and I've discvered 90% of my goals only apply to workdays xD

Managed to avoid sugar-filled drinks, managed to not have seconds, but dinner wound up being take-out because my nephews being here, and a project I started in my room that became much more complicated than anticipated, and my sister just picked them up five minutes ago, so not chance to grocery shop yet. Gonna have to shop tomorrow.

Should have time to exercise and do bible time before bed. Giving myself a C for today. I passed, but it wasn't pretty xD

 

[TheRealAriel]

Day 3- still going! Had 2 Soylents and a salad for food, drank all my water early today, and on track for an early bed tonight. Just have to do my 30 minutes quiet time now and I’m good to go.

Continuing to work on my running (slowly). Still not winning any medals for sure, but did get a personal best time for 5k(for my 30 something year old self, 20s Traci would not be impressed).

 

[mojoboy31]

(for my 30 something year old self, 20s Traci would not be impressed).

Lol, don't even get me started on things in my life that my 20's self would be unimpressed with. XD

Got some good exercise in, more than I thought I would. Got my room almost finished, did great at drinking water and eating good for lunch, but then my friend from out of town arrived, and are gonna stay the night and head out tomorrow. We went out to eat, amd I drank cherry coke at dinner. Big fail for today. Tomorrow, I'll need redemption.

Having movie night, avoiding snacks, and drinking sparkling water, and then bible time before bed.

 

[TheRealAriel]

Day 4 was alright. I hit all my goals, but I had to get a blood test and it came back that my cholesterol is quite high. Feeling a bit down. I really let myself go through the trauma of the last several years and it’s hard to see that still impacting me. When you lose yourself you have to lose yourself over and over again every time you are made aware of the trickle down it caused.

 

[mojoboy31]

Day 4 was alright. I hit all my goals, but I had to get a blood test and it came back that my cholesterol is quite high. Feeling a bit down. I really let myself go through the trauma of the last several years and it’s hard to see that still impacting me. When you lose yourself you have to lose yourself over and over again every time you are made aware of the trickle down it caused.

Great job hitting your goals! Give yourself a pat on the back! And hang in there! Deep wounds need time to heal, don't be too hard on yourself.

My friend had not seen any of the DC movies since Dark Knight Rises, so we had a movie marathon until they had to head out. Managed to hit all my goals for the day except my end-day ones I'll be completing shortly.

Tomorrow, I'll back to work. Need to mentally prepare xD

 

[mojoboy31]

Brought my own coffee from home. Today is going well so far, managed to bring my lunch, get some walking in, planning on doing grocery shopping after work, so I can make a dinner when I get home.

 

[TheRealAriel]

Day 5- hit all my goals except workout. Got a lot of school stuff done today so I almost gave myself a pass… but this is No excuses November, not some excuses November so I’m going to do weights and abs for 30.

Mojo, your mugs are all the coolest. What are you making for dinner?

 

[mojoboy31]

Day 5- hit all my goals except workout. Got a lot of school stuff done today so I almost gave myself a pass… but this is No excuses November, not some excuses November so I’m going to do weights and abs for 30.

Mojo, your mugs are all the coolest. What are you making for dinner?

Nice! That's dedication! You got this!
School stuff? What are you studying?

Lol, thank you, I'm pretty proud of them xD
I made the old classic: tacos

 

[TheRealAriel]

Nice! That's dedication! You got this!
School stuff? What are you studying?

Lol, thank you, I'm pretty proud of them xD
I made the old classic: tacos

View attachment 322729

I’m in grad school for a career switch- elementary education.

Yummmm! Except… where’s the salsa!? I see a lack of tomato, lettuce, and spicy salsa!!!

 

[mojoboy31]

I’m in grad school for a career switch- elementary education.

Yummmm! Except… where’s the salsa!? I see a lack of tomato, lettuce, and spicy salsa!!!

Oh that's awesome! How's that going?

The habanero salsa is in a small serving bowl that I'd left on the counter with my sparkling water
I will not, however, deny the lack of tomato and lettuce. lol

 

[TheRealAriel]

Day 6- my first rest day from working out. Made sure to check off everything else. Even went to a games gathering with my Singles group and passed up pizza!

Career switch has been good. Of course the dream was to be a stay at home mom once I had kids, but life had other plans. If I must have a job, teaching seems to be the best fit.

 

[mojoboy31]

You passed up pizza??? That's some self-control!

Yeah, I feel ya.

Yesterday went very well, avoided sugar, lattes, take-out, and second helpings. Also managed to get some exercise in, and Bible time. But I got distracted, and wound up staying up way too late. My alarm this morning hit me like a truck, work is gonna be very interesting.

 

[mojoboy31]

Didn't pack lunch, so this is what I get. Lol